ספר שמות

Careful analysis of ‎Yitro’s words will show that he spoke of two separate acts of ‎‎“saving” the Jewish people. Yitro had heard not only about the ‎physical salvation the Israelites had experienced but also about ‎the manner in which the spirit of the Jewish people, a people ‎downtrodden by many years of slavery, had been transformed in a ‎short space of time to being the most steadfast people, afraid of ‎no human force on earth.‎This brings us to another nuance in the exegesis in Shabbat ‎‎105 according to which the word ‎אנכי‎ is an acronym for the words ‎אנא נפשי כתבית יהבית‎, “I Myself have written it and handed it ‎over.” We know that another meaning of the word ‎נפש‎ is ‎רצון‎, ‎will, desire, as in Genesis 23,8: ‎אם יש את נפשכם‎, “if it is your desire, ‎etc.” The word ‎אנכי‎ accordingly sums up G’d’s message that by ‎committing the Torah to writing, He had expressed His will, and ‎desire. By handing over this document to the Jewish people, He ‎had authorized them to interpret it and to guide their lives by ‎means of these interpretations.Upon hearing this daring exegesis some people might ‎consider that G’d had taken a great chance that His people would ‎exploit this authority to pervert the Torah by “being victorious” ‎over Him. The reverse is true, however. G’d is pleased when as a ‎result of our delving more deeply into the hidden parts of the ‎Torah we discover heretofore unknown aspects of it. We have it ‎on the authority of Baba Metzia 59 where in a halachic ‎discussion among the various sages one of them called upon G’d ‎to demonstrate that his opinion was the correct one, and he ‎wanted the wall to collapse to prove this and the wall really began ‎to bend, that the opposing scholar quoted Deuteronomy 30,12 ‎where the Torah is described as not being a possession of heaven, ‎i.e. ‎לא בשמים היא‎, to stop the wall from falling. A heavenly voice ‎was heard by the people present exclaiming that ‎נצחוני בני מצחוני‎, ‎‎“My children have triumphed over Me, My children.” [Students ‎of that episode in the Talmud will find that that there are also ‎other interpretations of that episode. Ed.] Another quotation ‎from the Talmud Pessachim 119 reads as follows: the ‎opening words in psalms 4 ‎למנצח בנגינות מזמור לדוד‎, translated ‎literally, as “a psalm to the victor by David,” that the point David ‎is making is that whereas in interpersonal relations the loser in a ‎competition is downcast, not so when the contestants are man ‎and G’d respectively. It is G’d’s nature to rejoice in His children ‎having prevailed over Him.” As proof of this interpretation the ‎Talmud there quotes: psalms 106,23 ‎ויאמר להשמידם לולי משה בחירו ‏עמד בפרץ לפניו להשיב חמתו מהשחית‎, “He had already said that he ‎would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen, confronted Him ‎in the breach to avert His destructive wrath.” This reflects ‎another interpretation on Shabbat 105 where the introductory ‎words of the Ten Commandments are described as ‎אמירה נעימה ‏כתיבה יהבה‎, (compare page 431) When a son wins a game of chess ‎against his father for the first time, the father derives great ‎satisfaction of having taught his son so well. Similarly, if during a ‎discussion on the meaning of a certain verse in the Torah, the ‎‎“son,” i.e. one of the Torah scholars, has shown outstanding skill ‎and understanding of the Torah’s deeper meaning, the author, ‎G’d, derives great satisfaction from this.‎Coming back to why G’d did not introduce the Ten ‎Commandments with reminding the listeners that He was the ‎Creator and therefore had preceded every other phenomenon in ‎the universe, but stressing that He had taken the Israelites out of ‎slavery in Egypt, G’d did so because he wanted to be on record ‎concerning His love for His people. He was certain that by doing ‎this He would reinforce the people’s enthusiasm to serve Him ‎rather than any other so-called deities. By using a play on words ‎‎[in the Hebrew language, Ed.] our author ‎considers the whole episode between slavery-physical ‎redemption, and now spiritual redemption of the Jewish people, ‎as turning ‎צרה‎ into ‎רצה‎, “suffering and distress into joy and ‎happiness.” Henceforth the Jewish people are always referred to ‎as G’d’s children [even when errant children, Ed.] ‎This factor is an overriding consideration in our relationship to ‎G’d. This also explains that G’d chooses to “live,” i.e. be at home ‎among the Jewish people after they build a Sanctuary for Him ‎here on earth. If, in spite of this, the Israelites were ever to turn ‎to idolatry, this sin would be ever so much harder to atone for.‎ ‎